1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to the peeling of fruits and vegetables and more particularly to the dry peeling of fleshy fruits such as pears, drupes, apples, tomatoes, etc.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The Hirahara Pat. No. 3,854,395, issued on Dec. 17, 1974, discloses a flexible dry peeler formed as a rotary cylindrical cage having an abradant surface of axially extending, circumferentially spaced, parallel braided stainless steel wire cables stretched between axially spaced rings. The wire cage is rotated to tumble the product and the product is propelled through the cage by a differentially rotating helical screw of the type resembling an auger.
My earlier U.S. Pat. No. 3,602,282, issued on Aug. 31, 1971, discloses a device for peeling caustically treated pears wherein the peeler comprises a downwardly inclined net formed of nylon cords woven into squares on one and one-half inch centers, wherein the framework of the netting is vibrated mechanically. Neither of the peeling operations disclosed in my above identified patents require flushing the abradant surface with water during the peeling operation.
The patent to Wilhelm U.S. Pat. No. 3,480,057, Nov. 25, 1969, discloses a dry peeler for fruits and vegetables having a rotatable hollow, cylindrical, inclined peeling section formed of double crimp black iron wire, punched sheets, or expanded metal. Opposed tumbling bars are mounted inside the dry peeling section. After leaving the dry peeling section of the apparatus, the fruit passes through a cylindrical washer comprising a cage of longitudinally extending angle irons, spaced one eighth inch apart, that mount an internal conveyor screw. The washer forms an extension of the dry peeling section of the apparatus and contains a water spray for final washing of the fruit.